Debt Management Budgeting in Six Easy Steps

You know you're in a pool of debt if:

• You're juggling bills. For example, you apply for another credit card and use cash advances from it to pay an existing card.

• You have more credit cards than a successful gambler has poker chips.

• You are at or perilously near the limit on each of your credit cards.

• You consistently charge more each month than you make in payments.

• You are working overtime to keep up with your credit card payments.

• You don't know how much you owe and really don't want to find out.

• You have received phone calls or letters about delinquent bill payments.

• Your credit cards are no longer used for the sake of convenience, but because you don't have money.

• You are hiding the true cost of your purchases from your spouse.

The amount of debt left unpaid increases overtime due to interest rates. To keep yourself and family from sleepless nights due to debts, start a debt management budgeting strategy with special interest on decreasing debts.

1. CUT ALL CREDIT CARDS

It is best if you don't use credit cards, or even own one. If you think you're responsible enough to use it in emergency situation, then leave one for those times. Buying a Gucci dress for a hot date isn't an emergency situation. Paying for school tuition fee or electric bills is a right example of emergency situation.

Only fools keep more than one credit card. If you want to go down the pool of debt then own ten. Keeping ourselves away from temptation is the first step towards debt management budgeting.

2. KEEP TAB OF INCOME AND EXPENSES

Write down in your budget pad or software every debt you have, even the small ones. Number them according to importance. Between a house mortgage and a car mortgage, label the house mortgage as 1.

Then study your budget pad. Could you cut down expenses on utility bills or transportation? If yes, how much would it raise to add up to fund the mortgage? Study all possibilities of cutting down your expenses.

3. SAVE FOR THE RAINY DAYS

Effective debt management budgeting means not forgetting to save. Although you want to settle your debt, you don't want to be penniless when rainy days come, or do you? You don't have to allot every money that you have to pay off a debt. You only have to manage debt.

Save at least ten percent (10%) from your income, regularly.

4. SAVE TO PAY DEBTS

Since your program is debt management budgeting, you have to allot certain percentage from your income just to settle your debts. For evey income that comes in, automatically save five percent (5%) from it. That five percent shall be used specifically to pay debts. It shall not be used for any other purposes.

5. CUT CORNERS

Compare the income and the expenses. In debt management budgeting, if the expenses are larger than the income, you are going to have to look at cutting corners. The easiest place to cut corners are on expenses that requires our discretion such as grocery bill, or the entertainment expenses. Necessary and fixed expenses such as mortgage, or rent, car insurance, utility bills can be lessened a little, but for the most part will stay the same.

You don't have to deprive yourself of everything that you enjoy, but cutting back a little will help. Using coupons at the grocery store, and shopping for sale items will help cut your grocery bill. You can also limit your entertainment expenses by watching movies on video so the entire family can enjoy the movie in a price of one. The extra you save could be used to buy another video or or towards something that you really need, or want.

6. ASK FOR DEBT RESTRUCTURE OR AVAIL OF AMNESTY PROGRAM

Take advantage of the amnesty program that banks and credit card companies offer. Most especially for the credit card companies, they offer payment of principal amount less the padded interest. This will help make budgeting and managing your debt easier.

If you think you're drowning with the amount of your monthly amortization, say for your mortgage, ask for debt restructuring. Have it stretched to suit your budget.

Although you may pay for the mortgage in a longer period of time, the debt restructuring allows you to pay the amortization on time and save on interest for late payments or worse, repossession of your property.

Gold Mining Stocks - Simple Steps To Stay Ahead

Just like back in the old west days, gold mining companies invest time and resources to discover, mine and process gold. To be able to finance this expensive operation many companies will offer public shares which, as you probably know, allows the average person to own a small piece of the company. When the prices for gold goes up, so does the profit margin and that's when the investor can see a profit from owning gold mining stocks.

To increase your chances of making money, and not losing money, there are some simple steps you can take. Remember though, all types of investing carry some risk, though you may be able to mitigate a lot of the risk by gaining knowledge, you can't guarantee you'll make money so never invest more than you can afford to lose.

One thing you should do first is to figure out how much money you can allocate to buy mining shares. The general rule is to have about 10% of your portfolio made up with precious metals, but since mining has it's own unique dangers not all of your precious metals allocation should come from mining company shares.

Pick your companies. Some people prefer to go with just one large cap company for their mining shares allocation. Other's prefer to have several mining companies as part of their portfolio, so if one company fails they aren't completely out in the cold.

Still others enjoy the thrill of investing in younger companies that don't have much of a track record. This can give them huge paydays if the company does well. Of course, the risk is much greater too.

When choosing your stocks consider the debt, cash flow and mineral reserves of a chosen company.

It's also a good idea to familiarize yourself with the countries that the mining company does business in as this can provide clues to various threats to their bottom line. We all know there are some very unstable regions around the world, if the company you are looking at does business in these areas they may face issues that will force them to slow down, or shut down, production.

Remember, that mines need to pay for the equipment and workers to run their mines. Keep this in mind as well when researching companies. Depending on their location they may or may not have access to sufficient labor pools and other resources.

You can also buy shares in a company that owns the gold, not just the mine. These are called EFT's. They are bought and sold like stocks, they are stocks. You don't actually own any stock in the mining companies themselves most of the time, and you don't actually own any gold. Keep these factors in mind before you decide whether or not EFT's are the right way for you to go.

For many investors looking for a hedge against falling dollar values, investing in gold mining stocks just makes a lot of sense. If you think it makes sense for you too, there are many places you can go to purchase them. Do your homework first though so you can end up with the pot of gold instead of just the shaft.